Big J

Hehehe! I will state again that the Germans, kings of mobile sawmill manufacture, have realised the benefits of sandals and socks. Check out this page on the Wimmer (the best of all mobile sawmills, according to several different people who have been cutting far far longer than me) website - the last picture perfectly illustrates my point! Blade Maintenance Service - Zenz Landtechnik GmbH Taupotreeman - we need photos!

Kathryn has accused me of paying the 'Yes' camp to garner support for my cause!

Superb Stevie!

I'm not crazy - my mother had me tested! All you English - too cool to be truly cool!

Curious to see the response to sandals and socks here. I have much fun winding my wife up with various threats of wearing them, and she has even said that if we move to Germany I am allowed to. I argue that as well as being sensible, comfortable footwear (well ventilated, hygienic and not to mention, pretty dapper), I am genetically programmed to want to wear them. Not only am I half German, but my father (who is English) is a serial wearer of them. Now perhaps I've had the sandals and socks are fabulous epiphany a little earlier in life than most, but I scored my first major victory in the battle to wear them last night as we went for a 15 minute walk up the pitch black lane with the dog and managed to wear a nice grey sock and grey sandal combo. Kathryn was horrified that we might meet someone, but relented. On a separate tack, I thought that they would be an excellent marketing angle for work. Everyone knows that the Germans are very good at most things, and in particular sawmilling. If I were to conduct my daily business at the yard in sandals and socks, not only would I be comfortable, cool and sauve, but it would give my customers a reassuring feeling that because I must be German, that I must know what I'm doing! What do you lot think?

You need a bigger saw! Seriously though, if you are going to be doing much with hardwoods, you need a larger saw. I usually don't do anything with butts smaller than 18 inches in diameter. An 18 inch cut requires a 25 inch bar. 90cc and 30-36 inches of bar is a good start. In reality, anyone who does any amount of chainsaw milling uses either the big Husky or the big Stihl (3140XP or MS880). Also, anyone who does a lot of chainsaw milling will tell you that the best thing to do if you have a lot of wood to cut is not to chainsaw mill any more than you have to as it's wasteful and very hard wood. That being said, it's truly invaluable in the right circumstances, like entirely inaccessible trees that would otherwise end up as firewood. I rescued a lovely 20 inch diameter pippy yew the other day this way. Jonathan

Worth keeping for milling, just don't mill it now. It's too hot and the inevitable cracking will devalue it. There is about 18 cubic foot in it. Would take a couple of hours to chainsaw mill and stack. Stack it well, sit on it for a couple of years and it's worth at least £540. More than firewood, certainly.

If it's a reasonable size Steve might just pip that on the butts. He requires certain lengths though, so speak to him first. Helmdon is a very large hardwood mill and could most likely easily absorb 250t.

Well remembered Bob! Call Steve at Helmdon Sawmills on 01295 760305. He uses about 450 tonnes a year, though he uses a reasonable diameter most of the time. Jonathan

Fantastic, I'll give you a call in the morning.

How many of there are you? We were in Ullapool at almost exactly the same time last year and stayed in a lovely little 'beachhut' at a B and B called Wingfold: http://www.wingfold.co.uk/ It's essentially just a converted garage, but it's been done incredibly well. Lovely German lady running it and the place feels incredibly homely. Don't know if you fish, but there is some nice spinning to be had off the rocks at Rhu Lighthouse (about 3 miles away). Mackerel and Pollack. Wait for the tide to be at least half way in. Good choice heading far north. You won't regret it! Remember to post some photos.

Thanks for the number Scraggs - I'll give them a call tomorrow. OMTC - in the words of Father Dougal "Oooh, that's very cheeky!" John, much appreciated. Don't think that the chap is in a desperate hurry, but I'll find out tomorrow. There must be someone closer who wants a free Oak chopping board!

Certainly of interest. I'll PM you.

Very true! it's funny how much shorter folk tend to be there. Even Edinburgh is an inch or so shorter on average than southern England (I have the bird's eye perspective you see!).

Midges will still be present, but less of an issue than in the height of summer.

And a full working order, fully professional 13amp dryer for £10.50. I actually feel a bit guilty. I set my max bid at £145!

I've just won a Miele tumble dryer on eBay and was wondering if anyone could collect it for me in Romford,, Essex for me and then pop it on a pallet to be sent up here? By way of thank you, I would like to send a lump of timber of your choosing (mantlepiece, big chopping board, rough sawn board etc) to you The vendor is one of those collection only people - otherwise it's an 800 mile round trip. Jonathan

I'm after about 25 tonnes of high quality butts within about 50 miles of Helmdon in Northamptonshire. If it's a full load coming from one site, it could be further. I mainly need large, perfectly clean Oak for quartersawing. I could also use Elm, Cherry, Ash, Yew or any of the other good hardwoods (accepting that Yew is technically not a hardwood, before I get pulled up on it!). Timescale is that the cutting would ideally be done middle to late November. I already have a couple of Elm trees there - I just need to make up the load. Thanks in advance. Jonathan

Feel free to give me a call on 07832 106156 if you want to chat sawmills. I spend a huge amount of time researching and chatting to manufacturers in the US and Germany before settling on my mill.

Well if you are going to be towing with a 7.5 tonner, there is no question - get something other than a Woodmizer. As you say, everyone has Woodmizers so stand apart and get something different. The Logmaster LM2 I'm getting is fully hydraulic, has a 24ft cut, weighs a tonne more than the WM LT40 and is £11k cheaper. No electronics, far simpler to maintain, capable of running a 2 inch band (which I've specified - already have the bands and they are monstrous). For the money you'd spend on an LT40, you'd get the next model up (LM4) with a 51hp Cat diesel, chain turner and computer set works. Jonathan

Hi there Sawmonkey, I have just bought a new mill (will be arriving at the yard in 7 days) from the States. I did a lot of research and settled on Logmaster. They produce very large, very heavy and very well built mills for an excellent price. What are you wanting to cut with it? Do you need a very long bed? What will you be towing with? Do you want hydraulics? Type Logmaster into the search function and lots of info will come up. Jonathan

My whisky journey started with Isle of Jura, with a brief stopover at Talisker, before moving onto Laphroaig and then latterly Laphaoig Quarter Cask. Now the normal Laphroaig tastes watered down. Damn it!

Come on, there must be someone! How often do you get the opportunity to get something like this at cost?! I've read/skimmed 139 different threads on the American Forestry Forum with mention of Logmaster in it, and there isn't a bad word to be said about them. Solid mills, good value and excellent after sales support. Be adventurous! We've got space for 2/3 LM1 ground models or a LM1 trailer model.

Terrible. Each of us knows how hard we have to work and how hard we have to save for new equipment. Each of us knows how much we stand to lose if we lose our tools. Depressingly each of us knows that the scum that steal our livelihoods get only slaps on the wrists whereas should we (god-forbid) use force to defend ourselves, we are put away for years. Laughing stock indeed.

Nice sunny day here. First time we've seen the sun for about four days actually - shrouded in mist the rest of the time.